Sweden's Carl "Calle" Lehmann

Carl ”Calle” Lehmann is an indie-pop/rock singer and songwriter from Sweden. Calle was born in Goethenburg in 1989 into a family of sports fanatics and his sister was the only other family-member who shared his interest in music. His predisposition first manifested, he says, when he was five years old and would hide from the sound of the local ice-cream van. He became so upset by the van that eventually his family had to take him to the doctor. The only explanation they came up with, was that he tried to hide from the tune the van continuously played, because it was so badly out of pitch.

When he was nine, his family moved to the capital Stockholm, where he was enrolled into a music elementary school and later a musical high school program called Rytmus, where music played a huge part in his curriculum. He began to play in his first band at the age of 12 and started playing gigs, either by himself or with his band. After high school he spent a year in Stockholm's Rock Musician's Program, (a translation of Rock Musiker Linjen) which entailed nothing but musical studies.

Calle had always wanted to live in the United States so after a year in RML, he made a trip to LA, where he decided he wanted to live after a week of sleeping on friends' sofas. Right after getting back to Sweden he enrolled in the prestigious Musicians Institute College of Contemporary Music in Hollywood and received an Associates Degree in Vocal Performance with emphasis on Independent Artistry.

In LA he would continue his career by working in the musical establishment "The Sayer's Club" in Hollywood CA, where his band The Session's Band has been joined by, among others, Prince, Jamie Foxx, Matt Sorum of Guns & Roses and Gene Simmons of KISS.

Besides live events, Calle has written songs for other artists and he is currently recording his first album which is set to come out this Autumn.

Calle says his greatest moment so far is to have played at Stevie Wonder's birthday party in the Sayer's Club in Hollywood.

This is what Calle has to say to other aspiring musicians:

"My advice to other artists is to just keep working. Learn to do things on your own and don't expect other people to do things for you. Work hard, keep at it and believe that your passion and determination is strong enough to take you where you want to go".